March 28, 2006

Join the überpositioning game

In marketing world we often define the competitive situation within the boundaries of other commercial companies in the same sector. Some visionary companies see themselves being part of a broader context and hereby define themselves as being in the business of “documenting life” (film, camera, phones, MP3 functionalities and all sorts of file-sharing companies comes to mind”). Some even realize that brands can be a part of actual popular culture. Below are a couple of the positions already taken if your company wants to join the überpositioning game (I don’t remember where this list comes from):

Anne Frank The DiaristPhilip K. Dick The FuturistGary Null The NutritionistJohn Brown The AbolishionistHarold Bloom The TheoristMalcolm Forbes The CapitalistColson Whitehead The IntuitionistHelen K. Foo The DentistJean Paul Sartre The ExistentialistMahatma Gandhi The PacifistThom Jones The PugilistPhilip Johnson The PostmodernistE.T. The AlienistThomas Pynchon The MistRobert Motherwell The Abstract ExpressionistMartin Dressler The TobacconistE.O. Wilson The SociobiologistLeni Riefenstahl The PropagandistDave Brooks The LoyalistEdward Hopper The RealistChris Martin The ScientistRobert Penn Warren The FormalistSade The SadistDonald Antrim The VerificationistNorah Jones The SitaristPiet Mondrian The ColoristCarole Maso The MasochistKurt Vonnegut The SatiristHenri Matisse The FauvistMrs. O'Leary's Cow The ArsonistGabriel Garcia Marquez The Magic RealistRomare Bearden The CollagistMartha Stewart The ImperfectionistOliver Sacks The NeurologistNarcissus The NarcissistThomas Merton The TrappistPeter Eisenman The DeconstructivistOscar Schindler The ListEvan S. Connell The RapistJuan Gris The CubistPaulo Coelho The AlchemistH.D. The ImagistJonathan Franzen The CorrectionistArthur Miller The Dramatist'